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Professor Frierson speaks with students about how the scope of moral considerability relates to their final papers on nuclear power and indigenous populations as climate refugees.

“Stubbornly pursuing insight, learning to be wrong in order to learn how to be right—these are some of the core abilities that it takes to then go figure out how to change the world in new ways — and I think no degree could prepare me for it like my B.A. in philosophy.” – Curt Bowen '08, social entrepreneur and founder of Semilla Nueva

While studying philosophy at Whitman College, you will tackle big philosophical questions:

Does it make sense to discuss religion and morality in scientific terms?

Why do people adopt the lifestyles they do?

Are human beings truly free or merely products of their genes and environment?

As you analyze, interpret, communicate and engage with our shared intellectual heritage through your coursework, you'll also learn to detect assumptions behind people's beliefs, arrange thoughts in logical order, and write and speak clearly and concisely.

What Will You Study?

99%of alumni were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the content of their philosophy courses.*

Course offerings include a wide range of contemporary topics, such as the philosophy of feminism, environmental ethics, and punishment and responsibility, with the core of the curriculum concentrating on great philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant and Hegel.